Woodland wonder

Published 5:19 pm Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Variegated Solomon’s seal is a connoisseur’s plant for the woodland garden.

Its arching stems curve gracefully toward the prevailing light source, creating elegant stands of stems with opposite leaves, each with an edge of cream around its margins.

Waxy, bell-like, fragrant flowers hang on the undersides of the stems. Its distinctive growing habit makes this perennial, technically known as Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum Variegatum, a must-have plant.

In autumn, as the plant begins to go dormant for the winter, the leaves and stems turn a straw-yellow shade that glows as the light of summer fades.

It can handle full sun, part shade or full shade, but requires regular summer water in full sun. In part shade or full shade, it is drought tolerant once established. It grows well in sandy soil with regular water, but matures more quickly in a rich, amended site. It reaches about 2 feet high and wide, spreading slowly and steadily by underground rhizomes.

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